Seriously, you must be easily impressed if James has one decent season and you're comparing him to Mike Bibby. If James has 5-6 more seasons with numbers he had last season, then we can start making comparisons. GMs are looking for consistency before they will sign a player to a huge contract (unless you're Isiah Thomas) and James has not shown that he can put up those kind of numbers consistently. I don't even see why this is an issue. Colangelo has made it clear that he will not resign James. He has obviously seen how James played last season and either he thinks James doesn't fit into our plans or won't pay him the money/contract that he is demanding.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting BlueBayou87:</div><div class="quote_post">Last season we began the year with a huge loosing streak, we then followed it up by playing some decent .500 ball. Chris Bosh got injured for the last 10 or so games and we loose most of them. The team got better and learned how to play with eachother better as the season went on, and this was noticable. Most of our losses are games that we could, and in some cases should have won. In contrast, we won some games that we shouldn't have because of the play of Bosh and James in the 4th quarters. All new point gaurds need an adjustment period to some extent. Mike James has one very solid year under his belt as a Raptor and has become very familar with our All-Star power forward and the pick and roll, pick and pop, has become a very deadly play as both of them can fill it up. Mike James made Bosh's season better last year. Villanueva and Bargnani can be used in these plays aswell, and it would't be very hard for Mike James to get them involved in the same way he gets Bosh involved. Jose Calderon and Andre Barret have no defence. Mike James plays intense defence, while maintaining outstanding offence and giving a good 37mpg. Mike James wants a raise, he will get one wherever he goes because you are supposed to pay youre best players. He said he would love to play here if he got the right offer. So why don't we give him that offer?</div> there is a thing called blind faith and there is also a thing called...contract year basketball is a team sport, not individual show and i hope fans can distinguish what's good for the team, NOT what's good for the show mike james put on mike james's definition of right offer is allstar calibre money think again mike james and allstar
not sure if this has been said before, but the first few posts are commenting on how James will need to be signed to a 5 year deal, this is not true. Mike James personally said that he doenst want a long term deal, because he feels he is still getting better. He alluded to a desire to sign either a 2 or 3 year deal, and then still be young enough (in his eyes) to sign another contract after that. that said, i think we can do better than Mike James, at least as far as what this teams needs are. We have solid scorers in Bosh, CV31, MoPete and now with The Magician...we need a pass first point gaurd and Mike James will never be that. In my mind we need a Brevin Knight. Ridnour would do in my opinion, since he's younger, but if you're looking for immediate help than Knight is #1.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting BlueBayou87:</div><div class="quote_post">I still strongly disagree with giving him only 4 mil a season, when Bibby gets $12,500,000 a season.</div> Bibby's been doing it for years, James did it for one season Bibby is more willing to pass first than James is Bibby is younger than James Bibby is putting up comparable numbers on a much much much better team Bibby is putting up comparable numbers in a much much better conferance I dont want James back at 2 million a season, he's not what this team needs.
10 PGs that are already better than mike james wow i can name so many arenas nash felton knight wade (although he is part time PG he can still play it) hinrich bibby kidd iverson tony parker terry TJ ford andre miller billups baron davis (ok he is injury prone and fading but still better than mike james) Alien chris paul marbury (better version of mike james) that's how many? i believe that's more than 10.... and i can still keep on going...
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting 02civic:</div><div class="quote_post">Bibby's been doing it for years, James did it for one season Bibby is more willing to pass first than James is Bibby is younger than James Bibby is putting up comparable numbers on a much much much better team Bibby is putting up comparable numbers in a much much better conferance I dont want James back at 2 million a season, he's not what this team needs.</div> agree with you want to add the fact that bibby is a way better floor general/leader than mike james also way better decision maker
I'll wade in on this too...I'm a little inbetween on this whole issue. I watched a lot of games where James would chuck it up time after time, but there were also games where he would be the only one scoring. Granted partly that was because he kept dominating the rock leaving the team out of any rhythm they had. I think James is successful when he dominates the ball, unfortunately that is Bosh's job. Bosh did a good job of asserting himself as a leader this year, but was at times undermined by James desire to be 'the man'. I don't think that is what we need here, we need Bosh to be the unquestioned leader, and NOT ONCE has Mike James acknowledged that. On the flip side I do see the need for this team to have an emotional veteran presence on the floor to guide the team. James could be that way, there is no denying his talent or ability to put ball in the hoop, or break his man down off the dribble. He was an alright defender, not great, but most scorers are that way. I love his passion for the game and THAT is something that Raptors need more of. Bosh is beginning to display this. Ultimately we could do worse, but all this crap about comparable to the top 10 point guards pure garbage. Not everything shows in the stats, they can be manipulated to make someone seem a lot better than they are. IE: Zach Randolph is almost a "20/10" guy but I don't see anyone asking the Blazers for him. That and why in God's name should we pay even 5 mill a year for someone that has only put up numbers ONCE in his whole career? It isn't good business. I'd sign him to a one year deal with a bit of a raise and tell him to duplicate what he did and have the Raps improve their win total and then we'll talk about showing him some money.
Oh ya ...and Bayou...who are all these teams jumping to get James??? I haven't seen or read even one rumour that anyone is interested in him. Cept one a while ago about going back to Detroit.
If Mike James made Bosh better last season, just think of how much better he'd play with a real point guard. What's most frustrating about James is that he refuses to acknowledge his weaknesses. He's living in his own delusions right now and I would prefer the Raps to not be a part of it.
Lets just hope he wont light us up for 30+ and hit game winners on us like say...Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter...anyone else score like that for the Raps? probly not.
Umm... Jones?...When did I mention that certain teams were gonna jump on him? Someone else posted that... Im sayin, someone is gonna give him what he wants, and they are gonna reap the rewards or signing him.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting BlueBayou87:</div><div class="quote_post">Lets just hope he wont light us up for 30+ and hit game winners on us like say...Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter...anyone else score like that for the Raps? probly not.</div> yea...because mike james is the same type of player that carter and mcgrady are. i can see why you'd compare a guy with one decent season to perrennial all-stars and nba superstars
Bayou I think you're jumping all over Mike James because of his statline, but remember it was only over 1 year. He still hasn't proven he can do that consistently every year, now I"m not saying he can't do it, but he hasn't proven it, and that's a gamble especially since hes' what like 32 years old. Take that with the fact that he was on a team which got the 1st pick in the draft, really doesn't help his argument. (And no being on a worse team does not make it harder to score than being on a contending team).
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting BlueBayou87:</div><div class="quote_post">Lets just hope he wont light us up for 30+ and hit game winners on us like say...Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter...anyone else score like that for the Raps? probly not.</div> you got to understand that toronto is famous for being lit up by non star opponents stars lit people up is no surprise but it's only amazing when non stars light the opponents up i won't bother listening names but go check the boxscores i can assure you lots of nonstars have career highs/season highs vs toronto this past 2 years that's why toronto is such an entertaining team to watch
